Georgia Hill - The Charleston

Bob Dandry barely came up to her shoulder. Merry looked down at him and smiled. He blushed an unbecoming puce and then, to her complete shock, put a sweaty hand on her bottom.

Merry pointedly removed it. Venetia was one hundred percent right about you, she seethed inwardly. “How kind,” she said aloud, through clenched teeth. “I’m dying to find out who I’ve got. This is such fun, isn’t it?” She gave him an especially warm smile, amused to see him simper and sweat even more. How Venetia would love to hear about this.

“We’re so thrilled you could join our happy band. Our family, as I like to think.” Bob leered some more. He looked around. “Ah! Your dancing partner is sitting on the steps over there. Daniel Cunningham – the one in the white jeans and leather jacket. Let me just organise the cameras. If you’ll forgive me Miss Denning, I’ll be right back.” He wiggled his fingers in a nauseatingly coy wave.

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay right here. Hurry back.” Merry blew him a kiss and enjoyed the trembling hand across the brow it caused. “What a creep,” she murmured and then turned to meet a pair of the greenest eyes she’d ever seen.

***

Daniel lolled against the most famous steps in television and decided he would try his damndest to win Who Dares Dances this time round. He had a habit of not getting very far in the competition. Casey, the comely model, had gone out early a few years ago and last Christmas his partner, the weirdly eccentric but totally charming writer Lucy Everett, had been hospitalised. He didn’t seem to have much luck with his celebrity partners.

The production team had told them all that this was a special series which had been commissioned due to the show’s popularity. Daniel didn’t believe a word. He didn’t believe, either, the industry rumours about the new series trying to address the scandal of the last. He knew the viewing figures had shot up once the tabloids had an inkling of the race issue and the vote rigging row. Swimmer Max Parry, a contestant in the last series, had taken a payment to drop out of the competition early, to avoid leaving in just one black celebrity. Daniel was cynical enough to think the stories had been a carefully planted ruse to create publicity. Which it had done very successfully. He suspected any new scandal would be just as effective. He hated the way this business was making him so suspicious and disbelieving. Maybe it was time to get out?

At least some previous winners were making a return; that was good news. There was new blood too, in the form of some new pro dancers joining. Perhaps it would freshen things up. And he was really looking forward to having Harri back. It meant Julia would be a frequent visitor. His heart quickened at the thought and, as was his habit, he damped down on the feeling automatically. He couldn’t go there; she was Harri’s.

To distract himself, he pondered on what surprises were in store for this series. He felt sure Bob would have something characteristically evil to spring on them. In a previous series, he’d already made the contestants dance with each other and last year he’d made them learn each other’s skills. It had caused his friends, Lucy and Max, a few problems. Writer Lucy had been fine learning how to swim like a champion but writing a story had been torture for Olympic swimmer, Max. Still, it had all turned out alright in the end. Daniel smiled. He wondered why he did it sometimes. It certainly wasn’t for the money. The smile vanished. Thank God for the live shows; at least those padded out his meagre salary. No, the thing that drove him each time was the dancing. And this time he would win. It was his turn, surely?

It would all depend upon his partner. The only thing Daniel had heard was that she was an actress or comedian. The actress bit sounded alright, as most had had some kind of dance training at drama school, but a comedian? A vision of some well-known ones rose unfairly in Daniel’s mind. And any hope of winning vanished.

He’d tried to interrogate Julia, but she’d been knee deep in cream tulle, bridesmaids’ dresses and place settings; she was immersed in planning her wedding to Harri.

“You’ll be fine,” was all she said. “You knock most of us into shape eventually.”

It hadn’t done much to reassure him.

And now, here he was, geared up for ‘The Big Meet’ with his new partner, after which would come the inevitable press call and then the circus that was Who Dares Dances would begin all over again.

Sitting idly, watching the shrieks and carefully orchestrated emotions which accompanied the pro dancers meeting with their celeb partners, he became aware of a tall woman striding towards him. She had that wide hipped, loose-limbed quality that, for some reason, he always associated with Italian women. He guessed it must be the new Italian pro dancer joining them for this special series.

The woman stopped in front of him and smiled. It was an attractively broad smile, with full kissable lips and white, even teeth. Daniel also liked the luxuriant auburn hair and almond shaped eyes. She was dressed in carefully distressed jeans, red espadrilles and a linen jacket. She looked very elegant, very European and very desirable.

“Adelina?”

“No,” the woman looked startled and then amused. “I’m Meredith Denning. Merry. I believe I’m your partner for this series.”

Daniel managed to stand up and greet this gorgeous creature. She was very tall, he realised, probably one reason why they had been paired up, he topped six feet by several inches himself.

“Daniel Cunningham. Erm, pleased to meet you.” He found himself stuttering and his lack of cool surprised him. Get a grip, he chastised himself silently.

“Likewise. Can’t say I’ve seen you in action but you come highly recommended,” came the crisp reply.

Daniel had the distinct impression he was being laughed at. Then, the moment passed, as Bob bustled over and began to direct the cameras, so they had to repeat the encounter all over again.

Watching the footage later on, Daniel was amused to see the camera had picked up every nuance of expression which had flickered across his face: shock, surprise, embarrassment – and pure unadulterated lust. It made for an interesting start to Series Ten of Who Dares Dances.

Step Three.

As it was such a short series, training got going immediately. Merry was the only one of the celebrities who hadn’t competed before, all the others had been involved in one series or another. But she soon got to know her fellow competitors and they made her feel very welcome. Suni she liked straight away, Callum a Scottish prop forward she could live without – she felt very sorry for Adelina, the gorgeous Italian professional dancer who had to put up with his ‘accidental’ gropings all day long. Harri proved to be as friendly and charming as she’d imagined and was partnered with Eva, a fierce looking Swedish dancer, who Harri explained he’d had to put up with when winning the eighth series. They seemed to have a love hate-relationship based on, as far as Merry could see, ferocious nagging on Eva’s part. This, in his easy going way, Harri took good naturedly. He was often visited by his fiancée, the actress Julia Cooper, who was feverishly trying to organise the last few details of their wedding in between filming the latest Davy Jones blockbuster. Merry liked her too.

She had less to do with the others. Angie and Scott seemed to be determined to win at any cost and spent all their time training. Merry was intrigued by Casey, a model who wanted to act, but found her huge Russian partner Jan unnecessarily aggressive. Casey however, seemed to enjoy it. Whatever floats your boat, was Merry’s opinion, who was nothing if not tolerant of other people’s foibles. It amused her to see the clever, calculating Casey turn into a simpering dumb blonde whenever there was a man around. It was also obvious that she and Callum were having a raging affair. Merry hoped that Casey wasn’t tempted by the idea of a threesome. She’d seen Casey flirt outrageously with both Callum and her Russian dance pro. She’d need a bed the size of an ocean to fit both men in. She reached for the tiny notebook she always had with her and jotted the thought down. There might be some material there. She licked her pencil and made some notes, giggling. She just wished other people found her jokes as funny as she did.